Tag Archives | recipes

In the interest of researching how to scale a recipe that feeds 6 people up to a recipe that feeds the masses, I found that it’s actually very hard to scale a recipe more than 4x up or down from the original recipe. Well, that puts a restraint on new restaurant owners looking to make a big batch of soup to feed the lunch rush or a slew of cinnamon rolls to feed hungry breakfast goers.

Where do you get those recipes?

There’s a couple of ways to increase the size of your recipes, but a lot of it is from either trial and error or learning from others. After spending 10 years in a commercial kitchen, you have likely learned a few secrets to whip up larger batches, but for those that are starting fresh, it’s a bit harder to get your hands on large scale recipes. However, we found a few online resources to help give you the push you need to start getting creative in the kitchen. The list is below, but we thought it’d be best to also share a few examples of those recipes, so you can get an idea of what LARGE recipes actually look like.

We really mean it! These cocktails are off the charts with delicious flavor and eye catching presentation. Before you know it your whole bar will be sipping on these scrumptious beverages!

Chambord Raspberry Mojito

2 oz Rum

½ oz Chambord black raspberry liquor

6-8 Fresh mint leaves

2 Lime wedges

½ tsp Sugar

Club soda

Directions: Add sugar, mint leaves, lime wedges and a splash of club soda to a tall glass. Muddle until sugar is dissolved. Add ice to the glass. Add rum and Chambord. Stir to mix. Top with a splash of club soda.

Blood Orange Margarita

1 ½ oz Tequila (silver or gold, based on your preference)

1 oz Grand Marnier

1 ½ oz Simple syrup

1 oz Fresh lime juice

1 ½ oz Blood orange juice (about 1 – 2 oranges)

Salt, sugar & lime/ blood orange wedges for garnish

Directions: In a small bowl, combine salt, sugar and grated orange zest. Rub together with your fingers until combined and fragrant. Rim the ridge of your glass with a lime wedge and dip in blood orange sugar mixture. Fill the glass with ice. In a cocktail shaker, combine tequila, Grand Marnier, simple syrup, blood orange and lime juice with ice, and shake for about 30 seconds. Pour over ice and squeeze in lemon and orange slices.

The Silver Berry

5 Blueberries

Splash of St. Germain & Canton

1 ½ oz Silver Tree Vodka

Ginger Beer

Directions: Muddle blueberries with a splash of St. Germain and Canton. Top with ice and fill with Silver Tree vodka. Strain over new ice into a red wine glass and fill with ginger beer.

The Back Burner is written by the employees and friends of Tundra, and while we usually try to make this blog as informative as possible without imposing our brand on the information, sometimes there’s just going to have to be an exception. Don’t worry, we’re not going to suddenly turn this thing into a diatribe about how great Tundra is (although we’re confident we are pretty sweet). Instead, we’d like to simply mention a great idea one of our employees had a while back that has come to fruition.

Special Ties is a charity operated by Tundra that serves many good causes in the Boulder community. In the past, Special Ties has donated time to the The Boulder Shelter for the Homeless and the Women’s Shelter, and money to charitable organizations like:

Big operators like Chili’s, Applebees, The Cheesecake Factory, and others are always looking for ways to improve taste and customer experience while increasing efficiency. These companies spend a lot of money every year in research and development, and studying the trends that come out of the big chain restaurant’s R&D can be very informative.

Here are four trends on the rise in the food service industry:

1. Maximizing ingredients. Inventory control is vital to managing what is typically the second largest monthly expense for any restaurant: food. The more inventory you have, the harder it is to control, and that is the idea behind using the same ingredients in multiple menu items. That makes purchasing, regulating temperature, and managing First In First Out (FIFO) practices much, much easier.

2. Diversifying menus. Culinary fusion has long been the norm in fine dining, and now this trend has gone mainstream. American diners have been exposed to a much more diverse range of ethnic foods than ever before, and restaurant chains are bringing in new and exotic flavors and styles because their customers are much more familiar with the world’s cuisine.

3. Jumping on the gastropub bandwagon. The success over the past two decades of “gastropubs,” or beer pubs that also serve high quality menu items, has grabbed the attention of menu developers for large chains. It’s also changed customer expectations when they see a menu. Potatoes, meat, and other standard pub fare isn’t good enough anymore, and many chains have responded by offering an increasingly diverse and higher quality menu selection.

4. Sweet & Spicy and Sweet & Salty. Adding a kick to new menu items has become a popular trend as chefs expand the flavor horizons of their guests with unique combinations. Contrasting flavor combinations give simple menu items like salads or appetizers a fresh tasting kick.

These trends seem to reveal a food service industry that reflecting the times in which we live: unprecedented globalization and cultural integration has opened the palates of the average American diner, and if a restaurant can bring fresh takes and flavors to classic dishes, that’s a recipe for success. Of course, figuring out how to do that while managing to keep inventory under strict control is how you make money here. Finding that balance is any restaurateur’s challenge, and mastering it is the key.

Yes, your favorite childhood pet is also a favored delicacy in the Andes.

Called “cuy,” (coo-wee) by locals in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador, roasted guinea pig has a gamey taste similar to rabbit and is said to improve intelligence and focus if eaten regularly.

In Cuzco, Peru, cuy is roasted like a suckling pig and served with hot peppers. Other regions fry several cuy whole and serve them with a hot pepper or achiote sauce over rice or potatoes.

A view of Machu Piccu, the former stronghold of Incan Kings

Cuy is a traditional source of protein in the Andes going back centuries before the arrival of Columbus, when the Incan nobility dined on cuy exclusively and used their entrails to foretell the future.

Now guinea pigs are raised commercially and can be found in markets all over the Andes.

So if you’re ever in South America, and you don’t want to eat your childhood pet’s cousin, stay away from the cuy!